A mother board and one or more daughter boards are used to transfer signals between respective assemblies used in a computer or other electronic equipment. The mother and daughter boards may be arranged perpendicular to each other, as in an "edge card" configuration, depending upon the design of the overall product.
Edge card connector contacts are formed on the mother card so that when the daughter card is removed, the opposing contacts come together to form an electrical shorting circuit. The reliability of these shorting contacts is very important to the efficiency of the overall equipment. Due to the environment in which the boards are located, there is the possibility of debris being collected at the interface between the mother board and the daughter board or of a film being formed on the opposing contacts on the mother card. In this type of situation, the electrical connection between the opposing contacts may be imperfect or unreliable and may result in malfunction of the electronic equipment.
The following citations reflect the state of the art of which the applicant is aware insofar as these citations appear relevant to the present invention.
______________________________________ U.S. Pat. No. Inventor(s) Issue Date ______________________________________ 3,627,929 Gilissen et al 12/14/71 3,976,850 Faber et al 08/24/76 4,087,151 Robert et al 05/02/78 4,106,841 Vladic 08/15/78 4,285,565 Kirby 08/25/81 4,514,030 Triner et al 04/30/85 4,647,100 Crawford 03/31,87 5,098,306 Noschese et al 03/24/92 ______________________________________ Other Patent No. Issue Date ______________________________________ German 28 02 800 07/27/78 UK 2 133 938 08/01/84 PCT W085/04528 10/10/85 ______________________________________
The known art utilizes opposing contacts which are usually bent or bowed members, parallel to one another which engage across the entire width of the respective contacts. Alternately a dimple has been used on a surface to obtain contact stress against the opposing contact.
It is important to have opposing contacts which can reliably and simply effect an electrical connection when the daughter board is removed from the mother board and which can overcome film deposits and debris on the surfaces of the contacts.